It’s only the second time I’ve read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, a man so deft at writing books about human society and it’s response to events that take place. In Cold Blood is all the more interesting due to the events taking place being true.
The Clutter’s are a well liked farming family, with Clutter having founded River Valley Farm – a farm with no river, but the name was liked. In River Valley lives a community of farmers, closely living together as one unit, one family. On the very day that Mr Clutter signs over a cheque for life insurance, is the very last day that the Clutter’s will breathe their last breath, for the tragedy that befalls them will leave no one alive.
Two ex-cons decide upon a plan to make money quick. The two men are Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, one demonstrates bravado, the other emulates a supposed education and the pettiness of correcting his colleagues grammar. The two embark on a journey to a farming community, where they’ve heard from a source that one particular family in that community holds a safe which contains thousands of dollars. Having planned and accumulated the equipment required, they head for their destination with only a single thought of taking that money.
The result of their visit is the execution and brutal murder of a wife, a husband, their son and their daughter. Bound and gagged, and then shot at point blank range with a shotgun, covering the walls and surround area with their victims blood. The question that arises is whether the murders truly were committed in cold blood, and even if this was the case, would their capture result in what can be considred a fair trial for both the victims and the killers?
Sending a shockwave across the community, they intially point the fingers at each other, with conspiracy upon conspiracy being rumoured. Detective Dewey of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations is helmed with the task of finding the perpetrators of the crime and bringing them to justice. This is a task that is more difficult to imagine, for the clues left behind by the criminals are few if any, and none of which can be linked to the criminals.
It’s perhaps luck or fate that brings the criminals to a halt, who, having now tasted the pleasure of killing others deem it a reasonable method with which to acquire what they desire. As the two head to Mexico and eventually return to Kansas broke, Dewey and his team are running out of ideas, and for that matter any leads. It is only through some chance breakthroughs that they are able to achieve their goals of bringing the men to justice for the crimes they’ve committed.
Capote is simply incredible at achieving a fair balance in not painting the criminals as demons, but humanising them and giving them a soul; a reason for their outcome, their behaviour, their despising of life. At the same time, he hardly demonstrates them as saints simply taking the facts and providing it to the reader to make the judgement – had they been brough up differently, would they have still gone through with what they did? Were these cold blooded killers, or an example of unfortunate childhoods that simply propagated them to what they had done. Nothing is excused, but everything is question and the answers are for each person to decide.
At the same time, there is another trial that takes place – the trial of the trial itself. Questions and doubts are raised as to the restrictions placed upon the two within the court proceedings and to the witnesses testifying on their behalf – never is an inch given to defendants to fight their corner fairly – regardless of the crime they had committed and openly confessed to comitting.
Just as a tragedy befalls the Clutter’s it is fair to argue that there is the tragedy of due process and fairness that fails to take place within the courtroom, something that Capote perfectly captures. It’s not to say that justice wasn’t served, perhaps it was, but it’s questionable as to whether the trial itself was fair. Many things come into question such as the influence the jury was under due to the incident having taken place in their home town. This could easily be seen as a conflict of interest as some had befriended the late Clutter’s.
Then of course there was the question of witnesses and what how far they were allowed to comment. Much of this fell flat, and it’s support for those on death row fell short of what was expected. The most critical testimony was from a psychiatrist who was asked to examine both Smith and Hickock and came to the conclusion that Smith at the very least was demonstrating spouts of schizophrenia, and that there was a possibility that Hickock too could have suffered from some inability to do the right thing.
When the question came down to whether they were aware of what they were doing, and whether they could truly understand the rights and wrongs of their actions, they were found guilty. To be insane was not enough, according to a British law that was used as the basis to determine the sanity of both – this ruling ensured that only the minimal observations could be expressed, and the questions restricted to certain areas – deviation would not be accepted nor would full accounts of the mental state of either.
The events of what took place didn’t shock me as they did a few others I know of who read this. What it did do was engage me and place me during the events with every detail, every movement and every thought captured to ensure that when the tragedy took place. You can almost see the Clutter’s suffering in their distress, bound and gagged, waiting patiently knowing that as every shotgun shell fired was the death of a member of their family. You sympathy is perhaps strongest for Mrs Clutter, who was already ill when the incident took place, and was the last to be executed. Knowing full well that her husband, her son and her daughter had all been put to death, and that as she heard those footsteps come towards her, she had already made her peace with God before they put an end to her life.
What is astonishing is how Capote managed to gather such detail of the events, and how much of it is conjecture and fictionalised – gap fillers to make the pieces fit together. By all accounts it seems to be based very much on fact, from letters, notes, family members thoughts and of course the criminals themselves on what took place and the effect it had on everyone. It didn’t just destroy a family, but it ended the peace of a community causing fear and even copy cat killings for which they were once more accused.
On one level there is something to like about Perry and Dick, and not knowing of their criminality, they could have been friends with anyone. They weren’t particularly special, or smart, and that is perhaps what scared most people. That two ordinary looking strangers from way out of town visited an insular farming community, didn’t know any of the family, and yet executed every one of them and promptly left. What was even more astonishing was that no one heard the shotgun going off, but this was accounted for by evidence.
I’ve yet to read a fictional or even non-fictional crime book that has captured the essence of tragedy and fear as well as Capote has, and it’s affect on a close knit community. So many questions are raised, including that of the death penalty and it’s role in society as a deterrent to those who commit crimes, as well as the system of justice that takes place. Do we deny those accused of criminal acts the same rights of those that we deem to be innocent by default? Where do you draw the line on what rights a defendent has?
In Cold Blood has had the same impact now as it did ten years ago. It’s a book that has fascinated me, and I have only done myself an injustice in waiting so long to read it again. Truly a unique example of crime journalism.
Verdict: A remarkable piece of literature on the tragedy of murder and it’s affect on all involved